Smile is a good old-school horror movie with plenty of hair-raising moments.
This is a throwback to films that offer real thrills and thrills without relying too much on violence or torture. This is a supernatural film, with or without monsters, that psychologically explores the horrors that haunt us all while delivering moments of pure horror.
It's absolutely delightful to watch a horror movie in which the horror comes from a creature other than a maniac with a sword (knife, axe, your choice) seeking to dismember people or slit their throats. Why watch someone else do the latter when the audience can inexplicably watch the person do it themselves?
Psychiatrist Rose Kotter (Sozie Bacon) has to endure this. He is overworked and on the verge of collapse from exhaustion, even in the opening moments of "Smile". Unfortunately, fate has its own plans. While his boss (Kal Penn) tells him to go home and rest, his office phones ring as he walks through the door. An ER patient arrives at her hospital and Rose feels compelled to help her.
A young woman explains what's going on in her life until Rose starts to freak out. Moments later, Rose watches in horror as the young woman's face twists into an awkward smile as she shoves a shard of pottery down her throat.
It's a big day at the office, and yes, Rose is immediately emotionally affected. However, that's not all.
Strange things happen in Smile.
Soon strange things began to happen in his life (of course). she listens to things. She cares less about her personal life, which includes her fiancé Trevor (Jesse T. Usher) and her sister Holly (Jillian Zinser), who take things to heart when Rose refuses to contact her family.
Holly thinks that Rose, for some reason, is still struggling with what happened to her mother when she was 10 years old.
However, it is clear that after meeting this patient, Rose is unwell and feels that her mental health and this meeting are connected in some way. Trevor has little sympathy for her situation, causing her to seek help from her former cop boyfriend, Joel (Kyle Gallner), who tells her story.
Although he solved part of the mystery, thanks to Joel's connections and help, he pieced together the rest and made some incredible discoveries.
Parker Finn of Bath, Ohio directed Smile.
Written and directed by Bath native Parker Finn, who made his feature-length debut, it's a wonder Smile didn't start closer to Halloween. The news that Halloween Ends will be released in October helps clear things up.
However, having withstood the Halloween franchise since 1978, you can't go any further. Based on Finn's short film, "Smile" proves that he knows the conventions of the horror genre and uses them well, enduring those that have become clichés.
He masterfully uses silence to create fear, allowing those moments of pure horror to surprise and using others as real bait. Most importantly, the actual level of violence serves the narrative rather than suppressing it.
This story not only has a lot of horror, but also a mystery that keeps viewers on their toes.
In Bacon (daughter of actor Kevin Bacon), you have an actress who conveys the scary aspects of her story well. At first, viewers watch her transform on screen, and more importantly, it's not clear if Rose is actually under the influence of an unseen force or if she's slowly going insane before our eyes. The main problem is to answer this question at the end of the film, which may cause conflicting feelings for some.
However, there's no denying that "Smile" does exactly what it says it does: body hair stand on end.
George M. Thomas dives into film and TV for The Beacon Journal. Contact him at gthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByGeorgeThomas
check it out
Film: "Smile"
Actors : Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Jesse T. Asher, Kal Penn)
Directed by Parker Finn
Duration: 1h55
Rating: R for strong, violent content, obscene language and imagery.
Rating: B
This article originally appeared in Akron Beacon Journal: Summary: The director has everything to make his first film smile.